I'm a little worried that if we get Paper Mario in Smash, he'll be based exclusively on Origami King. TOK seems like a good game and on principle, I don't mind them focusing on it, but Mario's abilities in it are relatively limited. All he really does (from what we know) is jump, hammer, throw confetti, and use the Thousand Fold Arms. There's certainly moves that can be made out of that (confetti Up Smash, tether Up Special), but I worry that an entire moveset based just around these would feel a little bland. I could definitely see them trying to represent all of the newer games, though, in which case he could use mini versions of the Things or attacks based on different Stickers. I could definitely see Things like the Fire Extinguisher or the Squirt Gun being used in his moveset, and looking through the list of stickers, there's actually a surprising number that could possibly be used (Tail, POW Block, Shell, Leaf, Snowball, Spike Ball, Barrel, Wrench, Bone, Boomerang, Bomb, Throwing Star). That could make him a sort of 'item fighter' like Villager, where most of his attacks pull out various items with different functions. Not sure if that's the best option, since it has the possibility of taking away from Paper Mario's core abilities, but it's definitely an option.
Considering how much effort they're putting into the DLC characters, I would love to see Paper Mario have a gimmick where his B or Down B brings in a random partner (probably from among a selection of the more popular/notable ones like Vivian, Goombella, and Bobby) who would temporarily follow him around and give him access to an additional move. Alternatively, perhaps they could automatically use an attack after Mario uses a Smash attack or Special Move, replicating the gameplay of Paper Mario games where the partner gets a turn to attack after Mario. Heck, Mario could maybe even have a partner permanently following him and fighting with him, and switching your partner would switch up your moveset. In the first two games (to my knowledge), you almost never fight without a partner, so giving Paper Mario a partner all the time would actually be pretty accurate to the gameplay of them. These partner ideas are all incredibly unlikely, especially considering Origami King still doesn't have that much emphasis on partners, but I think it would be a great way of making his moveset feel exciting and fresh while also representing the gameplay of his games (just like Sakurai strove to do with Min Min and the other DLC fighters). It would add a new, interesting moveset to the cast that stands out from any other fighter, and it would keep Paper Mario from being seen as "just another Mario".
